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When considering characters in horror games, Barbie isn't the initial thought that enters your head. But anyone who delved into the delightfully dark 1998 PC game Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper knows that Barbie truly possesses survivor qualities.

The Bizarre Setup

The storyline is suitably strange: Barbie and her companion Becky have newly finished from their neighborhood investigator school, since naturally that's an actual institution. A "fall charity carnival" is taking place locally, and Ken is strangely the festival head, although he and Barbie are implied to be teenagers. However, the evening before the carnival opens, disaster occurs: Ken goes missing via a magic show mishap, and the donation funds vanishes with him! Naturally, it's up to Detective Barbie, her friend Becky (who functions as her "support operator"), and the player to unravel the puzzle of his absence.

Detective Barbie was saying gamer names verbally long before Fallout 4 and Starfield tried the gimmick — and she could pronounce nearly any name.

The Strangeness Begins

The oddity starts pretty much immediately. After booting up the game, users are prompted to select their name from a list, and Barbie will verbally refer to the player by name all through the experience. It's hard to stress how comprehensive and complete this list of names is. For those who has often struggled locating souvenirs with your name on them at present boutiques, you might think you're out of luck here, but you're incorrect. There are thousands of names on the list, which looks to include practically each form of every feminine forename in existence, from incredibly common to astonishingly scarce. While Barbie speaks the player's name with a truly unsettling amount of lively energy, it isn't similar to text-to-speech, which has me wondering how long Barbie performer Chris Anthony Lansdowne spent in the recording booth rattling off almost all girl's name under the sun.

Roaming the Festival

When gamers provide their name, they gain control of Barbie as she explores the scene of the crime. The time is late, and she's all alone (except for Becky, who occasionally checks in via the Crime Computer). Reflecting now, I can't overcome how much wandering around the game's creepy carnival grounds is similar to playing Silent Hill 3. Sure, this carnival isn't covered in blood and rust, or overrun by horrifying beings like Lakeside Amusement Park, but the atmosphere is distinctly spooky. The situation becomes more suspicion-raising when Barbie begins observing a dark figure prowling the park. It becomes clear she's not by herself after all.

There's nothing like a tense chase down a hilariously extended slide to get your blood pumping.

Unsettling Rides and Chases

While controlling Barbie through progressively disturbing rides and attractions (the Halloween prop storage room still terrifies me), the player will discover hints, which she forwards to Becky to examine. The clues ultimately lead Barbie to the enigmatic character's location, and it's up to her to track them down, following Ken's captor through a assortment of amusement park standards including collision vehicles, an huge slider with branching paths, and a faintly lit romance passage. These chases were genuinely heart-pounding — the music becomes intense, and an incorrect action could result in the suspect getting away.

Unexpected Complexity

Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper had a surprising level of depth, especially for a late '90s point-and-click game aimed at girl youths. Rather than dressing up Barbie, or playing with her horses, Detective Barbie concentrated on genuine interactive elements, had a captivating plot, and was creepy as hell. It even had a degree of repeat play appeal — each playthrough altered the varieties of hints players would stumble across, and regarding Ken's kidnapper, there were several persons of interest — the offender's persona altered with each session you played. After the case was cracked, players could even produce a young sleuth emblem to show off for ultimate peer respect.

Baby's first jumpscare! The clues in this room squeak noisily or emerge unexpectedly as players examine them.

Influence and Successors

Naturally, after a few replays, you'd ultimately experience everything the game had to offer, but it was incredible for its time, and even generated two subsequent titles: 1999's Detective Barbie 2: The Vacation Mystery, and 2000's Detective Barbie: The Mystery Cruise. The brand remains producing Barbie video games nowadays — the upcoming title is Barbie Horse Tails (yes, another equestrian/customizing adventure), which comes out in the coming weeks. While the graphics are a definite improvement over Detective Barbie, I doubt Barbie Horse Tails contains the same degree of interactive complexity, replayability, or typical creepiness as its late-nineties predecessors, which is somewhat disappointing.

An Introduction to Scares

Regardless of the company's initial goals for the game, Detective Barbie in the Mystery of the Carnival Caper ended up becoming my gateway to the horror genre, and I'd enjoy witnessing Detective Barbie star in another fun-but-spooky game that goes beyond dress-up and horse-riding. Society possesses numerous pony lovers, but it could certainly benefit from more hard-boiled Junior Detectives solving high-stakes charity carnival crimes.